Old Men
by Cozzybob
Summary: Age has caught up with Howard. Duo visits him in the nursing home.


**Old Men**

Characters: Howard, Duo, mention of the other Doctors

Warning: old age & Alzheimer's, nursing home angst

Note: Poor old Howard! I still feel bad for writing this, but I think it was sort of inevitable. (In a way, this is almost a prequel to _From The Ashes._)

Summary: Age has caught up with Howard. Duo visits him in the nursing home.

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Before Mariemaia and before Treize, before Dekim, before the Alliance and the Federation, even before the six gundams, there had been Howard. And before Howard, there was J.

After J, there was a project.

The project was to build an MS out of gundanium, and they called that project Tallgeese. Howard named it himself. Years later he wouldn't remember why he picked it, but the name and the soul of the machine was entirely his own creation. Everyone suffered.

"Hey, dude! It's Duo."

"Jacob--"

"No, not Jacob, Duo. Your Duo." A shaky breath. "I brought you flowers today. Daises, see? Your favorite."

Sam lost his nose first. Howard can't even remember how anymore, he was so young, then. Something about the needle-thin wires that made up the inner coil of... something. It snapped, whipped through the air with this tiny whistling sound that he barely heard over the screams. He remembered staring at the fleshy lump of cartilage on the floor, too shocked to move. Sam had almost bled to death. J designed his new nose...

"Oh hi Sam. Where you been? Haven't seen you since Jacob turned himself into a freakin' cyborg back in '57. Where'd these flowers come from? Did you bring them? That's so sweet, Sam, you didn't have to do that..."

"...Yeah. Listen Howie--"

"No, no, don't say anything, I know you've had a hard time lately. I see your nose looks better. You shouldn't hide it behind that ugly pink blob Jacob gave you, it's a very pretty nose, you know?"

The radiation from their first energy source mutated Gunn's face. _His_ nose became huge, and his hair... it was the funniest thing Howard had ever seen in his life. Gunn had gotten real depressed about it, but Howard and Olson dragged the man out for a drink and they partied until dawn. Olsen showed the two of them naked Tai Chi. There had been sex in involved... Howard remembered that part well. Olsen always had been such a babe, even after Operation Meteor. It still bugged the hell out of him that a seventy eight year old man could have perfectly toned skin and such a mammoth, gorgeous physique. More than once, Howard wished the man back from the dead so he could fuck him one more time.

"Listen Howie, I gotta go. I'll catch you later..."

"Don't be silly, Harris, sit down and have a beer. Is the ZERO finished yet?"

"What? Oh, I..."

"I keep telling you, Harris, its a big fucking mistake. But you and your ideas, you're so damned stubbon!"

"Yeah. I'm—I'm going."

Why was Harris on the verge of tears? Honestly, that man had always been too sensitive. "Sorry, I didn't mean to insult your project, but it's going to be a fucking disaster, I just know it. It's not right to let some program fuck with a guy's head like that. Some things should just be left alone."

"Yeah..."

He remembered Jacob well. The engine combusted, and then the fuel lines caught fire. The entire gundam blew apart, and Jacob was inside when it happened. There had been pieces. Both legs blown off, his eyes burned right out of his skull, his left arm ripped to shreds, half his teeth knocked out. They'd all assumed he was dead until Jacob came back to himself screaming his head off. He begged Howard to shoot him. Gunn stopped him. Gunn rebuilt him. Gunn turned his beautiful Jacob into a monster.

"I miss you, Jacob," Howard said.

Jacob was severely uncomfortable. There was a fine hitch in his breath, and a single tear slid down his cheek before the man wiped furiously at it and looked away. "I miss you too, Howard."

"Jacob--"

"It's Duo, Howie. It's Duo."

"Why would you change your name to Duo?"

"Because that's my—Jesus, never mind. How was... how was your day, Howie? The staff treating you well? They haven't been abusing you, right?"

"No, no, I'm fine. For an Alliance prison, it's really very posh. The guards are even a little friendly. So, they got you too?"

"What?"

"The prison. They got you two?"

Jacob looked about ready to cry again, but he carefully pulled himself together. He took a deep breath. Poor J. Always was a magnet for torture. "Yeah. Yeah, Howie. They got me too."

"That's too bad, man. I got you flowers. Daisies, they're your favorite."

"Nah, you keep them, Howie. You deserve them."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

"Okay, then." Howard frowned at the other man. He seemed so sad.

Howard huffed, lightly, changing the subject. "So, you wanna beer? I'd give you moonshine, but the guards keep taking it away."

Things were never the same after Jacob became half machine. They'd all drifted apart. The memories still lingered, held captive in his own skull. Sometimes, it drove him mad.

Jacob gave a shaky sigh and smiled. "Sure, Howie. Whatever you say."

--Fini


End file.
